The company I work for decided about a year ago to rollout BlackBerry's to a few select individuals in the company-including me; I am after all the email administrator. And as such...Read complete review

The company I work for decided about a year ago to rollout BlackBerry's to a few select individuals in the company-including me; I am after all the email administrator. And as such I got to integrate the BlackBerry service into our email infrastructure, and pick up a BlackBerry device-a *BlackBerry 7130*-in the process.

Recently, Verizon Wireless our cell phone provider and BlackBerry carrier, started offering the new **BlackBerry 8830 World Phone** and naturally I had to have one.

The **BlackBerry 8830** is a dual-channel(CDMA/GMS), dual band device that offered anytime/anywhere access to corporate e-mail, contacts, calendar information, two Web browsers (Verizon supplied and BlackBerry network), and a full QWERTY keyboard. The ability of the **BlackBerry 8830 **to seamlessly connect to either CDMA or GSM/GPRS networks is what makes the unit a true world phone with the ability to make and receive calls in over 160 countries.

The **BlackBerry 8830** offers a fully functional QWERTY keyboard, color LCD screen, Bluetooth wireless technology and polyphonic ring-tones, all bundled in a sleek, lightweight, and stylish handset. Other features of the unit include a calendar, a to-do list, a memo pad, an alarm clock, and a calculator; pretty standard fair for today's technology rich smart-phones. Like all Blackberry's the **8830** can act as a date only, or combined data /phone device.

The **BlackBerry 8830 **which ships with 64MB of flash memory (expandable via a microSD card that loads at the top of the unit),** **takes full advantage of the *Verizon's* *Wireless' *EV-DO (**EV**olution-**D**ata **O**nly) network. EV-DO is part of the third generation (3G) of high-speed data enhancements to the CDMA cell-phone technology. *Verizon* claims that its *Broadband Access EV-DO* network offers high-speed Internet access anywhere, any time (the **8830** features two Internet browsers, one from Verizon, and the other from RIM). By all reports, the high-speed network is living up to its promise.

Our complement of some 85 BlackBerry's is tied to our corporate email system, *Microsoft Exchange 2003*. Before connecting to the BlackBerry network via the BlackBerry Enterprise Server, the smart-phones first need to be activated on the *Verizon* network. Once data and voice connectivity is established the BlackBerry's are ready to start receiving corporate email. Email anywhere, anytime is of course what the BlackBerry excels at, and the **8830** makes reading them somewhat of a chore because of its limited screen size, but the font is easy to read. Once in the device, mail can be read and responded to; the full QWERTY keyboard on the **8830** makes this somewhat easy; I can even manipulate the keyboard with one hand. Large emails will be will be downloaded in portions to conserver memory space. Attachments can be read if the associated application is installed on the device, even (now) .PDF files.

Via the BlackBerry server and desktop software, you can control which folders in *Outlook* get re-directed to the **BlackBerry 8830**. By default the Inbox is downloaded to the device upon initial connection to the RIM network, but so is the Sent Items folder. If you never empty the Sent Items folder, and redirect it to your device, it will quickly fill up with mail you have already processed. My advice: do not redirect your sent items folder to the device.

Once read emails can be deleted from the device without deleting them from your Outlook mail client, but you can fully synchronize the two, so that whatever is deleted from one is deleted from the other. And of course you can respond to email, as well as compose new mail and forward existing messages.

As a cell phone I find the **BlackBerry 8830 **is easy to use, especially with a Bluetooth headset. Gone is the familiar thumbwheel that so marked the BlackBerry of yester-minute; it has been replaced by a thumb-ball in the center of the keyboard, and is so much more easy to use.

When I place a call people can generally hear me, but I have a hard time hearing them clearly and with the volume turn way up. This was alleviated by a Bluetooth headset.

You can place a call directly, or via the address book, by clicking on the phone icon. As I stated above, once you are connected you can activate the speakerphone, which offers decent clarity. On-screen displays allow you to control the volume and provide other useful information such as the duration of the call and of course the number. Coverage through the Verizon network is outstanding even in my house where historically, my cellular reception had nose dived. While at work my reception never falls below four bars, and at home I typically get two, but it is enough to send and place calls and send and receive data. ** **

A very useful feature is the ability to automatically turn the **BlackBerry 8830** on and off at specified times during the day. I have mine set to shut off at 10:00pm and turn on again at 7:00am of the weekdays. There is also a separate weekend setting.

Battery life for the **BlackBerry 8830 **is stellar. The initial charge took about three hours, and I can usually go a day or two without recharging the unit and the battery life only dropped by a quarter and this is with moderate email and phone activity.

**Conclusion**

All-n-all I am very satisfied with the performance of the **BlackBerry 8830; **the unit is small, stylish, extremely lightweight, and offers outstanding battery life. And while the **8830** may take some getting used to, in the end its all good, because the main objective is email, contacts, and calendar access and in this the BlackBerry's excel.

The Blackberry World Edtion has some great features, but is missing some essentials. Pros:The call quality and organization features are great. No restrictions on where you can travel.Good size.Reliable.None of the...Read complete review

The Blackberry World Edtion has some great features, but is missing some essentials. Pros:The call quality and organization features are great. No restrictions on where you can travel.Good size.Reliable.None of the issues that Mobile Windows phones have.Cons:There is no camera, which I use constantlyThe keyboard takes a little getting used toThe track ball also takes some getting used toIt is not as easy to sync to the office network as a Windows Mobile phone, especially if your company restricts the email server, as mine doesOverall, if you are a business professional and are using the phone strictly for business, this is a great phone. If you are planning on using it for both business and personal use, it may not be the best. I think I would have been happier with a different model of Blackberry and if my company would allow Blackberry use on our network.

I have had my Blackberry phone for two years now and I would never go back to a flip phone. It took me awhile to get used to my phone and all of it's functions but now I am sold. My favorite things about it are its capabilities to internet, facebook, and orginizing all of my things. I use my calender to function for everyday life. It tells me when have an appointment or need to call someone. I love the Pandora radio and I use that all of the time whether I am driving or running at the gym. The Facebook program is very quick, sensible, and useful as well. The interenet is reasonably fast and very easy to navigate. This phone is so much more than a phone. It is my personal assistant and organizer. I don't know how I ever got along without it. I hope to see what else it can do and how I can learn to use it more. I also enjoy the games and media that can be used on this device. Thanks!!

This was my first Blackberry and one of the best phones I've ever had. The battery life was decent. I loved the screen and LOVED the qwerty keyboard. I always got good reception and was able to travel overseas with the phone (need to call the phone company before international travel and also must have a SIM card, which I wasn't aware of until I left the country!). The first downside for me was the fact that it doesn't have a camera. I really missed getting random candids of my kids (which is why I traded up for the BlackBerry Tour). The second downside was the port where you charge the phone. I went through 3 of these phones because of the charging port coming loose. Something inside of the port would come loose, thus not allowing the phone to be charged. The phone company couldn't fix it, so I had to trade in for a new phone 2 different times. I finally upgraded to the BlackBerry Tour and haven't had any problems with the phone and I now have a camera. This is certainly a great phone but I prefer the Tour or the Curve.

I have had this phone for a year now, and I have yet to have a problem with it. The blackberry is perfect for professionals in the business world. It allows me to send and receive emails extremely easily, and I can manage my contacts and emails right on my phone. I am always connected to my computer, even if I am nowhere near it. I also love the fact that it has a full keyboard, unlike the iPhone, which is only touch screen. I am not able to be as efficient and fast on a touch screen (my iPod is touch screen and I have trouble typing things). I am able to write full emails and even open and revise documents all on my phone. One feature that is unique to Blackberry only is the Blackberry Messenger (BBM). This is one of my favorite features of the phone, because it allows you to instantly talk to someone else who has a blackberry. You can use it worldwide. You can see when your text message is delivered and opened, and it also allows you to have group chats for all your friends/contacts with blackberry phones. I couldnt have picked a better phone for everything I need.

Overall, I really do like my blackberry. When the time comes, I will definitely be upgrading to the newer model. My only complaint with this actual phone is the roller ball gets stuck a lot. I just have to fiddle with it and play with it and it will eventually fix itself. It's just a pain when you need to do something on your phone and the ball is sticking. I know this was a pretty big problem because the newer version don't use the balls anymore.

The only negative about this phone is there isn't a camera. I went from this version to the Storm and I have wanted to run the darn thing over for almost 2 years. The World Edition is sleek, easy to use, light-weight and I miss it so much! The only issue I ever had with this phone was the roller ball got stuck...when I went to have it fixed, I got "upgraded"...the worst day EVER!

I hated this phone. I had to get it for work and I went from an I-Phone, which I personally think is amazing, to this blackberry. It was difficult to understand, especially because set up is so weird. You have to put icons on the screen, but half of the things you need are missing, and you can't figure out which icon you need to be able to get them.

And that is not even the half of it. Texting is horrible. You would think with a full key pad that it would be easier, but no. The buttons are small, and if you want to capitalize anything you have to hit the arrow up button (which is close to the alt button which you will always press instead!)

My company has the phone through T-Mobile, which doubles how poor it is. It is slow to download, and is difficult to see once something has been downloaded. The little rolly ball is not very responsive, and makes for an awkward user experience.

Maybe others will like this phone, but for me the touch screen is the way to go.

The Blackberry 8830 World Edition is a basic phone with some advanced features. It has a QWERTY keyboard, which I appreciate, but it is taking me a while to figure out shortcuts and how to get to certain symbols. The phone itself works fine, as does the email speed and internet access. I don't like that you need to go through the main screen to turn it off, as it is easier to have a switch on the front or side of the phone in my opinion.

There are a number of functions, such as calculator, notepad, contact books, etc that help improve functionality. From what I can tell, there are no apps for getting local information or gps services as the Apple iphone does. However, for a functional business phone, it has everything you need. The downloading of Excel and Word attachments is a bit clunky as well. Overall, the phone is the right size, but a little heavier than I would prefer. Overall a decent phone for business, but not very stylish.

This phone has all of the functions that one would need, to get email, view documents, browse the web. This phone has more functions than I need, but works great for I do use it for ! Would highly recommend this phone !

This is my first BlackBerry and I chose this one for a couple reasons. One is that I travel a lot and wanted one that could be used overseas. I was surprised to learn that not all BlackBerry's could be. Also, I liked that this model had a good, regular, old-fashioned key pad with just one letter on a key. This makes typing super simple. I guess if there is one thing I haven't liked about this model it's that the number keys are very small so putting in a new number often turns into a guessing game. But if one keeps a large a large phone book, putting in numbers is only an infrequent occurrance. I have also been very happy with the reception of this device. Even when traveling abroad in out of the way places, it has given at least e-mail reception and that has been very helpful. Overall, I definitely would recommend this device over the Storm and other BlackBerry's that have 3 letters per key.